Improvement in fruit-baskets



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICEO JESSE K. PARK, OF MARLBOROUGH, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT iN FRUIT-BASKETS.

Specilication forming part of Letters Patent No. 55,530, dated June 12,1866.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JESSE K. PARK, of Marlborough, in the county ofUlster and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Fruit-Baskets; and I do hercby declare that the following1 is a full,clear, and exact description of-the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in whichFigure l is a side view of a basket constructed according to myinvention. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of the saine.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in bothfigures.

This invention relates to that class of fruitbaskets which are made ofwoven splints of wood. Such baskets are ordinarily made with the warprunning up and down and the weft running around them; but my improvementconsists in the arrangement of the splints which constitute the warp inthe form of separate and distinct horizontal bands, with the splintswhich constitute the weft passing up and down between them, and foldedor bent over the top or upper edge of the basket in such manner as tosecurely bind the same, wherebyT the basket is not only made muchstronger, but the outwardlyprojecting rim ordinarily formed around theupper edge of such baskets is entirely dispensed with, thus enabling thebaskets to be packed together in much less space than those commonly inuse, and whereby the sides of the basket are rendered much smoother inan up and down direction than such ordinary ones, thus enabling them tobe much more easily packed and unpacked, the time and trouble requiredin packing and unpacking the baskets and the expense of transportationbeing by these means very considerably reduced.

To enable others to understand the nature and construction of myinvention, l will proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

A represents the sides of the basket, and B the bottom thereof. As showninthe drawings, this bottom is made of a thin fiat piece of wood securedin place by nails; but it may' also be made of any other suitablematerial and be attached to the sides of the basket'by any proper means.

C is the bail or handle by means ot' which the basket is carried. ThesidesA are formed of interwoven splints or thin hat strips of anysuitably tough wood. Those splints D which constitute the warp of thesaid Woven sides of the basket are first formed into rectangular bandsor rings by being bent around rectangu lar blocks or by other suitablemeans, and have their ends secured together in any appropriate manner.Any desired number of these annular warp splints or bands D are placedone over another, and the long splints E, which constitute the weft orfilling, are interwoven with the said warpsplints by being passed up anddown between them alternately upon opposite sides of each ofthesaidwarpsplints, as shown more clearly at a in Fig. 2, the weft orfilling splints E being bent over the upper and lower edges of the sidesA, or, in other `words, over the outer edges of the two outer mostannular warpsplints D, as shown at bc in the drawings, thus securelybinding the same and holding them in their places. The weft-splints Eare passed up and down between the warp-splints D and over the outeredges of the upper and lower warp-splints, as just set forth, until theinterweaving is carried entirely around the said warp-splints, whichcompletes the sides A of the basket, whereupon the bottom B andlbail Oare attached thereto in any proper manner, as hereinbefore set forth.Inasmuch as the uppermost warpsplint l) is firmly and securely held inplace by the bending over it of the weft-splints E, as hereinbeforeexplained, it follows that the outwardly-projecting rim employed uponand around the upper edges of ordinary fruit-baskets may be entirelydispensed with, so that any desired number of baskets may be packed inclose contact with each other with no waste space between them, wherebya given number ot' baskets may be packed for transportation in a muchless space than au equal number of the ordinary kind; and, furthermore,inasmuch as the weft-splints run up and down instead of around thebasket, as in ordinary baskets, there is no chance for them to catchupon those of adjacent baskets in packing or unpacking the same.

What l claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination of the warp-bands D with the interwoven weft or fillingsplints E, passing up and down and bent over the upper edge ofthe basketto form the binding, substantially as herein set forth, for the purposesspecified JESSE K. PARK.

Witnesses:

A. LE CLERC, J. W. GooMEs.

